


Mark

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 12:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14165352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Soulmate AU in which you get your soulmate's first words said to you as a mark on your 18th birthday "





	Mark

**Author's Note:**

> I have been working on this for so long and it is 4 am, my charge is 19% and I am posting this from my phone. And I have two very important exams on monday. Yusukann is more important though.
> 
> Oh and a little side note, I didn't specify who Akira's soulmate was just to make it open. Expect it's not Futaba. I know I know I am sorry. I ship them I really do but I wanted this to be an AU where everything was fine and Akira didn't get a criminal record so I was having trouble how to make him stay with Sojiro and I made them siblings at first but it felt weird so I changed it. They are still only friends, though.

12th of November. It was Ann's birthday. Her 18th birthday to be exact. Shiho called her at 12 am sharp and wished her happy birthday. It truly was an amazing way to start off the day. After answering the phone call -that has disturbed her sleep but she never could say that to Shiho, this was a tradition for them after meeting each other. (They always made sure to congratulate each other on their birthdays at exact 12 am. It was kind of cute of Shiho to start this.) she went right back to bed, not checking her messages at all. Though she secretly hoped the club chatroom went crazy for her birthday. _Probably not..._  she thought. They must have been sleeping. Well they **should**  have been sleeping. It was late after all. Even though they didn't have school tomorrow.

  


_Tomorrow..._ She honestly was excited. How couldn't she? Actually, she has been waiting for this day for the longest time. She was finally going to learn who her soulmate was. Well... What her soulmate did or will say to her. People seeing their soulmate's first words to them on their 18th birthday was something everyone experienced. It could happen right when they turned 18, or when the day was about to end. The time really didn't matter. It just happened on that day. There was no exact time. People saw it on their bodies. It was like a tattoo, the words glowing on their skins. It was only natural that she would be excited. She kind of hoped that it was someone she had already met. A certain someone... No, she shouldn't have got her hopes up. There was no way. She was not that lucky. But even if he was not her soulmate, there were people who didn't end up with their soulmates, too. Some of them passed away, some of them chose different people, some of them couldn't even identify their soulmates because the words were way too generic. Like "Hello." or "Excuse me." So maybe there was luck, after all. Maybe she could just sit and hope for his soulmate to bump into him and say "Sorry." or something like that. But there were people who just straight up said their names to people they just met. It was something happened often and it was expected, of course. You could just say your name if you wanted the person to identify you easily in case you were their soulmate. This was a smart idea but there were times Ann said different things to people. Normal, generic things that wouldn't make her stand out at all. Though people responded with unique things, especially after seeing her face. Hoping that they could be her soulmate. So that she would remember them. She always forgot their faces after some time. Still, she had a few months to make a move. Maybe he would stay with her then.  _Instead_   _of going to his fated person. Yeah, right... Keep on dreaming, Ann..._  

  


But tomorrow, tomorrow would be the day. Well, technically not tomorrow. But still. She hoped it wasn't a greeting or something similar. She understood how all those people felt now. She felt anxious. She didn't know when the glowing words would appear. She didn't know where they would appear. She hoped it was not somewhere people would see, like her hands. The words would stay until the day ended so she could just go to the bathroom before the midnight and check it. She didn't want the whole world to know. She drifted off to sleep with butterflies in her stomach and a slight ache in her heart.

* * *

She ran to the bathroom right after she woke up. There were no marks. 

  


She finally checked her messages, it seemed her book club -That was stupidly named "Phantom Thieves" seriously, they shouldn't have let Ryuji name the club.- did not actually sleep at a reasonable hour and planned to meet at Leblanc for her birthday. It wouldn't be a surprise, they knew that she would never forget it, and she knew they wouldn't forget it too.  It was a very important day, if not the most..

  


After having breakfast, she went to her wardrobe to change her clothes. She decided to go for something simple, she took black pants, a white shirt with black collars and a light blue sweater. It was really cold outside, considering it being winter and all, she took her favorite red coat, a white scarf and beanie. She went outside, there were no snow -unfortunately, becuase she loved the snow- but the cold winter air was sharp against her face. She took the subway and after some time, she was at Yongenjaya. She walked for a bit, and stopped when she saw a certain coffee shop. 

  


She saw Sojiro first when she walked inside. "Ah, welcome. It was Ann-chan, right? Happy birthday" "Mhm! Thank you so much. But uh, where is everyone?" He thought for a few seconds then  replied. "Akira and Futaba are upstairs, playing some video games or whatever. No one has came yet. You must be early." She looked at her wristwatch. Yeah... She was early. "What about going upstairs and hanging out with them?" She didn't know if she wanted to play games at the moment but she accepted it anyway. "Yes, I will do that. Thank you!"

  


Futaba came downstairs right on cue. "Ah! Hi, Futaba!" Ann shot a warm smile at the girl. Sojiro called, "Akira! Come downstairs, Ann-chan is here." Futaba repeated the sentence in a kind of mocking tone. A few moments later Akira came too. "Hello Ann. Happy birthday." She grinned. "Ehehe, thanks!" "Everyone probably will arrive soon. Do you want me to make you coffee?" Coffer didn't sound bad. "I would like that! Thank you." 'Alright, you all go sit down, I will make the coffee" said Sojiro.  


  


They sat at their usual table and started chatting. Futaba made a comment about how all the soulmate business was very stupid and unimportant. Akira protested and said he had the best girlfriend. Sojiro made a snorting noise and Futaba complained about how annoying for them to be lovey dovey all the time and said that she will get her revenge when she got her own soulmate. Sojiro coughed uncomfortablly. Ann felt at ease like this... This wasn't any different from their usual conversations in the club room. Well... maybe it was. They didn't talk about soulmates all the time and Sojiro wasn't there. But the feeling of it, it was all the same. Like they were some kind of family. Their afternoons spent with chit chat, snacks and laughters. She was fondly smiling at the two friends who were bickering about stuff when she heard the door open.

  


"Heyyyy it's yo' boy!!!" "How disgraceful... As always." It turned out Ryuji and Yusuke were the ones arriving next. It was... an interesting duo. They most likely ran into each other at the station. Ryuji was loud, like he always was. And Yusuke made sure to make small comments about how he disapproved of it.

  


After greeting Sojiro, they went to sit down with their friends. Yusuke took the seat across Ann. She started examining his face. He looked slightly out of breath and he had a little blush -probably because of the cold weather- He looked adorable like that. She kept admiring how his hair fell down his eyes and those lashes... He-

  


"Ann. Ann!" She blinked in surprise. Ryuji was practically yelling at her face. "W-what do you want? Don't scream at me like that!" "Well, well. Our birthday girl was so busy looking at **someone**, she didn't notice her coffee bein' served." Ann looked at her right and saw that Sojiro was, indeed, holding a tray of coffee in his hand and standing there with a knowing look on his face. She felt her cheek get warm, she probably looked so red right now. She stammered a quick apologize and took the warm cup of -awesome- coffee from him. She kept her hands on the cup for a moment, enjoying the warmth it had. While she was doing so, everyone already resumed the conversation from where they left off. Even though it was kind of risky, she decided to look at Yusuke a little bit more. He didn't show any signs of understanding what had happened just a moment ago. _Oblivious..._ He looked a little distracted. Now, it wasn't a rare occurrence for Yusuke to be distracted but today... Ann couldn't understand what he was thinking at all. She noticed dark circles under his eyes and felt the feeling of worry creep up on her. Hasn't he sleeping well lately? She suddenly noticed that Yusuke was looking at anywhere but her. She wondered if she had made him uncomfortable.

  


Makoto and Haru came afterwards. She stopped herself from looking at him creepily yet again and started some pleasant conversation with Makoto while Haru busied herself with playing with Morgana. -Akira and Ryuji had found him on the street when they first met and Akira decided to take the poor kitty in- Ryuji and Futaba were arguing about something stupid and Akira was mostly observant. Ann noticed him looking at her and Yusuke questioningly. He seemed to notice the change in Ann ever since Yusuke had arrived. How couldn't he? It was obivous. Though useful most of the time, there were also inconviences about this aspect of him. You just couldn't hide anything from him. She held his gaze once or twice, trying to look unaffected.

  


After a while, Makoto noticed the shift in the air between the two and went to talk to Sojiro. Seeing Ann unoccupied, Akira went to her side. "Can I talk to you for a moment, Ann?" Yusuke looked at them then, who was almost all silent throughout the whole day. "Sure." Ann said. She didn't know quite why, but she was kind of nervous. Akira probably knew Ann had liked Yusuke. Was he going to talk about it? Maybe the thought of telling about her feelings to someone other than herself was what had made her scared.

  


They went out of Leblanc. Akira held the door for her and watched her silently as she got out. It was quite cold and it had only started to get dark. The sky was full of orange, red and purple hues. She had always liked watching the sunset, colors that painted the sky were always fascinating then. She turned back to Akira. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" She gave him a little smile, to hide her own nervousness. It was always nerving when someone asked you to talk.

"Do you like Yusuke?" Now, that was direct. Ann didn't feel any shock at all but still felt the warmness on her cheeks. 

  


She looked down at her feet, unable to meet his eyes this time. Her fake courage failing her now. She quietly confirmed with a nod that, yes, she indeed liked him. "When? When did it start, exactly?" He asked again. She didn't understand the point of the conversation. She was feeling tense and wanted to get out of this as soon as possible.

  


She started thinking. Exactly when? It was a tough question, just suited to be asked by Akira. Thinking back, she couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she has fallen for him. She also couldn't remember when she noticed that she has had feelings for him.

  


Was it when he asked her to model for him when they just met? It was so embarrassing on her part, being asked to model nude, seriously? But it couldn't be... They had just met then. Or maybe was it when he held her that time she fell down? She had yelled at him to let go of her already, it left her so flustered. She couldn't even sleep that night becuase of him. He was on her mind all day... maybe that **was**  when she started considering the thought of having an interest towards him. 

  


She remembered all the times he had talked about art, his eyes always shone different. There was something else in them, you could feel the passion he held for it. His hand gestures and the little blush he always had also showed it. She would just stop talking and listen to him then. Watch him. The way his eyes sparkled, his expression changed. She would wonder then if she ever would be the subject that would turn him into this. It was stupid, to be jealous of art. Maybe it wasn't jealousy, she didn't know. She wanted him to like her, to love her. She always felt a longing to tell him her feelings. It maybe would help her. It could ruin everything they had or make him consider her as a romantic interest, rather than a person to draw, merely an art subject. Either way, she would say her piece and get everything off of her chest. She considered doing it lots of times but never had the courage to do so. She was scared. The thought of him being cold and distant to her after that just... hurt her. It hurt her heart so much. Could she say all of those feelings to Akira? Could she express herself, the feelings she had, to him? 

  


"I don't know." She said instead. She was scared that the thoughts she had wouldn't hold the meaning they actually had if she had said them out loud. She hoped Akira could, somehow, understand what she meant. He was the observent one, after all. 

  


He nodded silently, then said "You know that there is a pretty big chance that he might not be your soulmate, right?" That stung. Of course she knew. That was all she could think of lately. But hearing it, hearing it from someone else hurt. She looked at his eyes and was surprised that she found worry in them. Akira was her friend, of course he hadn't said all of these to taunt or make fun of her. She felt bad... 

  


Taking that as a response, Akira continued, "You have 3 whole months before his birthday comes. If, he is really not your soulmate, I would advise you to spend that time with him and make as many memories as possible." Her eyes widened, why would she waste his time like that? If they weren't meant to be together, there was no way that they could end up after spending only 3 months. Maybe Akira wanted her to try making Yusuke fall in love with her, it wasn't an option she hadn't considered, but it was impossible. She couldn't defy fate. She wouldn't want him to get his hopes up thinking that he found his soulmate when, in fact, she is not his fated person.

  


Or maybe, Akira wanted her to make those memories so she could hold onto them forever -or until she moved on-. That wasn't something she wanted as well. She didn't want to fool herself. 

  


She was going to protest, was going to tell him to let go of this subject but he interrupted her before even she started. "Yusuke loves you, too." "Wh-!" She stopped herself from screaming "...What are you talking about? He obviously doesn't see me more than a friend." It was easy to see. Akira ran a hand down his face and groaned. "What is obvious is that you two both have the same feelings. Didn't you see how he was today? He looks like he hasn't slept in ages and also looks like a ghost. He is worried that it won't be his words that you will see today." Ann was perplexed. "But... But he would have said so... After all this time..." "Well **you** didn't tell anything after all this time, did you?" Ann furrowed her eyebrows. He had a point but she still couldn't believe it. She trusted Akira's intuition but this was too much. 

  


The wind has left her unconsciously rubbing her arms while thinking. It was freezing. Akira -who didn't seem to be bothered by the cold as much- noticed it and asked if she wanted to go back inside. She would have rather stayed there and continue talking with him about Yusuke and soulmates more but decided to say yes instead because there was no way she would have let herself get sick on her birthday.

  


When they entered the cafe they were greeted by their friends' confused and questioning stares. Ann smiled at Makoto and Haru, then sat down. She looked down at her lap to avoid meeting Yusuke's eyes. "Is there something wrong?" said Yusuke. She rose her head a little and shook it no. Then saw him furrow his eyebrows with suspicion. But he made no comment on that. 

  


He looked around for a bit. When he saw that nobody was paying attention to them, he leaned forward towards Ann lightly and asked, "Say, Ann..." he looked lost. Like he couldn't decide what to say. His expression was not the brightest. He was clearly hesitating. She smiled a little, and asked him what is it, to make him say the goddamn thing in his mind. Her heartbeat was on her ears, she could hear it easily. She wondered if he could hear it, too. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Is there any news on the... soulmate case?" Ann was surprised to say the least. She didn't think that he would be interested in this, even if Akira said so. She assumed that she was probably looking at him with a dumbfounded expression that wasn't very attractive so she forced a reply. "Um... I-uh. I, no. No, there isn't. I don't know... yet." He looked at his right and narrowed his eyes a little. He looked kind of... relieved. Was that what it was? 

  


She didn't know what came over her but she suddenly felt bold and took the chance to also lean forward with a kind of teasing smile. "Why, what is wrong?" Now he was the one who looked dumbfounded. But he was not unattractive at all. It looked kind of endearing in a way. She wanted to see him make expressions like this more. Express his feelings more. His face was so close to hers now. She could feel him breathe -slightly out of order? If she leaned a little bit more... A little bit... Just a li- "Of course not. I figured that there wasn't, I just wanted to check." He leaned back. And looked uncomfortable. She had made him uncomfortable. Great. She leaned back, too. She could feel adrenaline run through her veins and her hands were a little shaking. Her fingertips felt cold, she blamed the weather. She averted her eyes and nodded once. 

  


She held her coffee cup to stop the trembling, it, of course, was cold. She hissed, she hadn't thought of that. "Are you perhaps cold?" He asked. He probably saw her hands shaking. "A little bit, yeah. What, worried?" She snickered and teased him to hide her own embarrassment. Then... felt warm. Her hands that were on the cold cup... felt warm? She slowly looked down on the said hands, to find another pair of hands on top of them. Yusuke's hands. On top of hers. Holding them. She could feel her eyes widen on their own accord. Her head shot up. 

  


He was looking at his right again, a habit? His cheeks were red. His eyes closed after about 5 seconds. Tightly. Like he was waiting for her to do something. Yell at him, maybe? She had pushed him off when he held her to soften her fall, after all. She gulped. This was difficult. 

  


"...Yusuke?" She called for him quitely, not louder than a whisper. She didn't want to gain the attention of others, especially Ryuji and Futaba, who would make a huge ruckus and embrass them about it. But more than that, she couldn't quiet find the strength in herself to talk, let alone make it loud. Her already fast heartbeat now was beating like crazy. 

  


He opened his eyes. Still didn't meet her gaze. "You said... you were cold. So I thought..." He trailed off and grimaced. Then took his hands off. She didn't want that. His hands, despite making her go all flustered and excited like that, were warm and nice. She wanted to hold them for longer than that. Her hands went for his immediately after he broke the hold. It was completely out of reflex. 

  


If she thought about what she was going to do, she wouldn't choose to do that. Not something that could expose her crush to him, as if it already hasn't been exposed. But she did anyway. Because she didn't think about it. So she surprised herself as much as she surprised Yusuke. She didn't look at his face but felt his fingers twitch a little. "You are supposed to warm my hands up, right? Don't be surprised when I take you up on that." She wanted to act cool but the tremble in her voice gave her off... Probably. 

  


She heard him chuckle a bit. It sounded a lot like when she laughed at the random stuff to hide her own embarrassment. She wondered, maybe... "Of course." He said and intertwined their fingers. He. Intertwined. Their. Fingers! It really did warm her up, she could feel her cheeks and neck burn. 

  


She decided to look at his face now. She couldn't be a coward about it. She didn't know why he did that. She still wasn't sure if he liked her. Actually, Ann was pretty sure he didn't like her up until now. But now she had her own suspicions. He had the same redness on his cheeks but was smiling faintly while gazing at their hands. Her heart... She couldn't handle this. All of the things he did and all of the expressions he made. Yusuke felt her gaze and raised his head. The smile was replaced by an embarrassed look. He opened his mouth to say someting- A ring. Coming from the door. A customer. It was like time has slowed down. They both took their hands off of each others as fast as lightning. 

  


"Hi. Can I have a cup of coffee and your infamous curry, please? I heard it was really good." said the customer. Ann looked at her just to avoid looking at Yusuke. Looked at her without actually seeing a thing. The customer sat down at the bar and started a conversation with Sojiro. She decided that that was the time she looked at Yusuke. Then she saw him looking at the wall with wide eyes. That was not in character at all. He didn't widen his eyes. He didn't blush. He never did those things before. Why..? 

  


He couldn't have been in love with her. He couldn't. He never showed it. She would have known. She had watched him so closely, she surely would have known. Was he doing this because it was her birthday? No, he wasn't that cruel to fake interest. 

  


Ryuji came to their table and yelled at them for being grumpy. She was going to argue with him and take all of that frustration out of him but then she felt something. Her arm. It didn't hurt but at the same time it kind of did. It tickled too. She held her arm, nothing changed. She itched it a little, nothing changed. She ignored Ryuji's questions and went straight to the bathroom. The mirror there wasn't large. It was quite small but it was okay. She didn't need a mirror. She started unbuttoning her shirt. This must have been it. The soulmate mark. After this long... She had waited for this. She asked her parents about it all the time ever since she was young. How did they meet, how did they know, how did they feel... It was a successful marriage, they loved each other. They were soulmates after all. Of course they did. She wanted to love someone like that. She wanted to be loved by someone like that. The way they looked at each other wasn't dismissable. It was clear from their eyes that they were made for each other.

  


She unbuttoned all of her shirt before she realized. Then took the right sleeve off. She couldn't took all of her shirt off since she hadn't seen any place to hang it when she entered the toilet. She couldn't feel that excited that she has paid attention to all of those little and stupid details instead of trembling and getting uneasy but happy... Why..? Even after all the time, she couldn't feel happy to find out her fated prince charming? No, she knew the answer. It didn't matter who it was. She wanted to be with the person in the cafe right now and wanted him to be by her side forever. She was scared. Scared to look at her right arm showing the very first words her soulmate has ever said to her. She knew it must have been done.

  


She had probably worried everyone by storming off to the bathroom without saying anything. They probably knew what was happening right now. Otherwise they would have came and asked her. She took a very deep breath and counted. One...

She thought of a dark blue hair that always looked oh so soft to touch.

Two...

She always wanted to touch it and play with it. She wanted to make it a mess and do a really little ponytail. It probably wouldn't even be a ponytail. His hair wasn't that long.

Three...

And grey eyes she always thought looked like steel. So hard and cold. But not with his loved ones. Not with his friends.

Four... 

They would soften up when he looked at someone or something he loved. Sayuri, his mother's painting that was his favorite. And everyone else... Akira, Haru, Makoto, Futaba, Ryuji and even Morgana. 

Five...

Had he ever looked at her like that as well? She never could look at his eyes for that long while talking to him. It was hard for her.

  


She opened her eyes that she didn't realize were closed. Then slowly looked at her right arm. She could feel the tears slowly come out of her eyes by reading the letters on it. It was something so simple yet so important to her. She read it again and again. She stopped reading it after 6th time. She wore her shirt properly and tried to wipe her tears off. They wouldn't stop that easily. She just stood there, in the middle of the toilet of a cafe, and cried while trying to keep quiet. It was hard for her to control her voice. But she didn't want anyone to know. She stayed like that for some time, five seconds. Five minutes. Or maybe an hour? She didn't know anymore and decided not to dwell on that. When she felt herself calm down a little bit, she wiped her eyes for the last time and splashed some water on her face to look more presentable. She looked at the small mirror and saw her really red nose and cheeks. And her eyes. They looked bad. She sighed and got out of the bathroom. 

  


She was face to face with Ryuji who looked like he was going to enter the bathroom. Of course he couldn't wait. He looked surprised and kind of ashamed but he managed to say "You cried? The hell?"

  


She felt irritated that he was poking his nose into her business but knew that he was just worried. Not just him, all of her friends, even Sojiro, based on the fact thay they were all behind Ryuji, looking like the way he did. Expect Yusuke. Yusuke wasn't there. She felt a knot in her heart. "Where is Yusuke?" She asked, clearly avoiding Ryuji's question. He crossed his arms and said something about her being rude or whatever while pouting. "Um... He went outside while you were in the bathroom, Ann-chan. I think he wanted to get some fresh air." Said Haru in a sweet voice. She looked worried too. She seemed like she wanted to ask the same question as Ryuji but held back. 

  


Ann nodded and went outside without saying a work. She ignored Makoto telling her to take her coat. She walked and walked. She knew where he could have been. It was a little risky but she couldn't imagine somewhere else. She started running. 

  


She was out of breath when she reached her destination. It was a pretty deserted place so it would have been easy to notice Yusuke if he was there. Phantom Thieves went there a few times, it was like a cliff but not quite. There were no houses or any other buildings so it was a nice place to relax. There were all kinds of weeds everywhere and you could see the city if you looked down from there. She loved it here and knew that he did as well. She first thought that Yusuke would go to Madarame's old "house" but decided that he wouldn't be able to enter it. She looked up to see countless stars shining. She hadn't really noticed the cold while she was running but now that she was staying still she understood why Makoto advised her to take that goddamn coat. That's what you get for not listening to the mom of the group.

  


She walked around a bit and saw Yusuke sitting at the edge. Looking down at the houses and people at streets. She walked up to him and stopped behind him. "That's a waste to look down when you could be looking up at all of the beautiful stars, don't you think?" She said quietly. He didn't turn his back but moved slightly so she could sit beside him. He didn't need to, since there was a lot of space already but she supposed that was to also acknowledge her. She sat at the spot and wanted to snuggle to him more when she felt his warmness. She could see her breath on the air. She started rubbing her arms out of cold for the second time that day. She noticed he didn't have a jacket as well. That could have been a good opportunity to get clos- He draped an arm around her and pulled her close to him. He was looking up at stars just like she said.

  


"Is it someone you know?" He asked. Right to the point, as always... "Why did you come here?" She asked without answering his question. Her irregular heartbeat distracting her. "How did you know I was here?" He did the same. "It is cold... You should have taken a jacket or something." "Same goes for you. Is it someone you know?" He asked again, looking at her eyes this time. His face was really close and she was tempted to kiss him. But she was thinking this time. And thinking about kissing him... sounded like a pretty good idea. So she did it. 

  


She closed her eyes and pecked him on the lips. When she leaned back and opened her eyes she saw him completely red -again, out of character- and shocked. His eyes were as wide as they could be and he was breathing heavily like he ran a marathon. She chuckled a little, it was so cute for him to act like that. "Is it someone I know? Well, I am sorry but you won't be learning that. I decided to keep my soulmate a secret. Hehe~" She winked at the end. 

  


"Is that okay with you?" She came close to him yet again and held his cheeks in her hands. They were warm despite the cold weather. She narrowed her eyes and saw him do the same. Then tried again. Slowly this time, she kissed him again. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist while playing with her hair with the other one. He slowly untied her hair and continued playing with it. She stayed like that for a moment, just wanting to enjoy the moment and the feeling. It didn't last that long nor was it that passionate.

  


But it was sweet and affectionate. The hand on her hair soothed her while the other hand was holding her tightly like he thought she would dissappear any second. She could feel his eyelashes on her cheeks and it was everything. It wasn't her first kiss but it was their first and the best one she had. She knew that she would cherish and remember this moment, right here, under the stars and above the city, in the cold but within the warmth of each other. 

  


"Yes, that would be pretty much okay with me." He said after breaking the kiss. The hand on her hair moved to her cheek and he rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes. "Hey Yusuke... I love you." She said. "I love you as well, Ann." 

  


Her hands were now on his chest and she could feel his fast heartbeat. It was a rhythm she knew of. She wondered how stupid she could have been to not notice. Would it have been easier for them if she did notice earlier? Did he knew? She shaked those thoughts, she didn't need them now. All she needed was his warmth coming from his cheeks and hands. 

  


"Truth is, I was scared. That I wasn't your soulmate. I wished for a selfish thing. I wished that I was the one who would learn about soulmates first. Then I would be at ease." She chuckled a bit at that and pecked his cheek. "It's okay." She assured him. "Nobody will learn mine before yours anyway, so it's okay." "Why don't you exactly tell who it is, Ann?" "Now now, you said that it was okay, right? I don't feel like it." She grinned, hoping to ease his worries. He didn't look convinced, though. There was uncertainty in his eyes and she took one of his hands with both of her hands and blew on it, trying to make it warmer. "Now we are even." She said and laughed at his red face. It certainly was new but not unwelcome. She would love to see new sides of him like this more. She kissed his hand and his blush got even deeper if that was possible. She let go of the hand, smiling. Then did the same to the other hand. 

  


When she was done he took her face up to his and kissed her. More heated this time, with some biting and nibbling. She was easily out of breath so she broke the kiss. She saw that he was like that too. He was so sly, was that how he got his revenge? Two could play at that game. But it was kind of dangerous doing that there. Out of everyone to see and at a spot where they could easily fall down. It was also getting unbearably cold as the night progressed. So she stood up and lent a surprised Yusuke her hand for him to stand up as well. He chuckled at the gesture and rubbed her shoulder to warm her up a bit when he also got up. 

  


It was really sweet of him. She wondered if things like this would keep happening even when they were much more older. But it was not the time to think about the future like that. Besides they weren't even dating. Oh god... She kissed someone she wasn't even dating. But she couldn't help it. He looked so... kissable. It was the inevitable. She looked at him with determination. "Yusuke, date me!" That came louder than she was expecting and it was really embarrassing to say out loud. His eyes widened for a bit and he laughed. "I was thinking about how to say that exactly. Of course. Thank you for saving me." 

  


That was really stupid of her to do but she was glad she did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him one last time. -And god was this boy tall.

"Let us go back." He said. "Yeah..." she said as she held his hand. They started walking to Leblanc hand in hand, commenting about the weather and the stars, how nice the place was and why didn't they do this sooner again? 

  


There was a hell lot of explaining to do to their friends. Or maybe not. They probably knew everything before they themselves did anyway.

* * *

Ann shifted a bit and caressed the material under her hand. It was not that soft, that blanket. Not as soft as Yusuke's hair that she was playing with her other hand. She decided to hold his shoulder with the free one instead of randomly caressing blankets.

  


Yusuke was warm above her, on his knees to support himself. She didn't know how much time had passed like this, they kissed and ran out of breath, took short breaks while kissing each other's cheeks, noses, eyelids and caressing arms, waists, backs... Then continued kissing. Well... Making out. 

  


He was working on a painting in his dorm room while she was scrolling through her phone. She got bored with it pretty quickly and decided to bother Yusuke a bit. She embraced him from behind just when he was thinking about what he could change in the painting. Then kissed his neck. Things... escalated quickly to say the least and they were on his bed, like this. 

  


Her jacket was gone and she couldn't even feel cold. And she wanted his shirt off. "Ann... Ann." "Mm?" "I think I am feeling something." "Huh..? Isn't this a little bit early?" "N-no. Not like that. Wait." She took her hands off of him and he sat up. Then took his shirt off. It was sudden and she wasn't expecting it. She found herself staring and stopped herself. He was... trying to look at his chest with a shocked expression. 

  


28th of January. It was Yusuke's birthday. His 18th birthday to be exact. And he forgot that. One's 18th birthday was supposed to be the day when they learnt about their soulmate. Ann didn't forget that. She has organized a surprise party with their friends and had a gift to give him. But didn't actually think this would be that early. 

  


Yusuke's eyes shot up to her face, quietly asking her what it said. She took him by the shoulders and pinned him to bed. "Hmm? You are curious about what it says? Then let me tell you. "That's my line. You were the one stalking me." It says this." "Then what your mark said was..." ""Is there something you want?"" She tried to mimic his deep voice which didn't sound realistic coming from Ann. "I could be easily mistaken if I didn't memorize your first words to me completely." "Then, what you said was... I mean... Why didn't you..?" "I wanted you to fall in love with me... for who I am. Not because we are already destined to be together or something like that. I-" he cut her off by pulling her down by her nape and kissing her. Her cheeks were painted a deep red and he smiled at his adorable girlfriend's face. She smiled back at him. It was all she needed. She wanted to be with him and wanted him to stay by her side, like this, forever.

  


They decided to stay at the bed and continue where they left off for a little longer. She intertwined their fingers before kissing him again.

  


"Happy birthday, Yusuke. I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! Thank you for reading! Even though it was diffucult for me to write, I really enjoyed it. I love those two. They need more recognition.


End file.
